Erik ten Hag’s nightmare start to the season has morphed into new dark manifestations after watching his Manchester United side crumble to lose 3-0 at home to rivals Manchester City who had a lark of a time cruising along.<\/p>\n
The Dutchman was clearly groping for excuses in the post-match interview, actually claiming that his Manchester United side was going toe-to-toe with City and that the plan was going as planned until the scoring of the second goal by Erling Haaland, from which point onwards everything went awry.<\/p>\n
Richard Keys unceremoniously cut through the clutter saying the Old Trafford job is proving “too big” for Ten Hag after the Red Devils were clearly outclassed in the weekend Manchester derby. That loss is their fifth in the opening ten Premier League\u00a0games as the former Ajax boss continues to set new records of the unwanted kind for the club in this new campaign.<\/p>\n
Ten Hag\u2019s debut season did provide the Old Trafford faithful room for optimism but another summer of heavy spending surprisingly saw United veering tangentially off-course at an alarming pace, with increased pressure now continuing to mount on the self-professed disciplinarian after an unstoppable Pep Guardiola side cruise through at Old Trafford to\u00a0further widen the gulf in class between the Cityzens and the Red Devils.<\/p>\n
Turning on the screws in his blog, Keys is adamant the job is beyond the former Ajax boss \u2013 despite being appointed less than 18 months ago \u2013 as this certainly isn’t the first time United have been found short and wanting on their own turf this season.<\/p>\n
“Clearly the job is too big for Ten Hag. Clearly he\u2019s lost his players. Clearly his \u2018game plans\u2019 are nonsense. Does he really believe that Utd were \u2018toe to toe\u2019 with City in the first-half? Clearly he\u2019s deluded if he does.<\/p>\n
“That was City\u2019s easiest three points of the season. Brighton\u00a0made them work harder. And Wolves. Even Sheffield United gave them more of a run for their money.”<\/p>\n
The Dutchman has of course touched on the need to raise standards in his squad except that his authoritarian style has seen him make an example of players who have not taken his cue to toe the line.<\/p>\n
Keys claims the Dutchman\u2019s actions in taking on certain individuals has now cost him the dressing room, saying: “The tin pot tough guy has lost his silly fight with Sancho and had to back off from his scandalous treatment of Maguire.<\/p>\n
“Both battles cost him dressing room support.”<\/p>\n
Ten Hag, however, is still adamant that his side is going in the right direction despite their awkward loss on Sunday. United’s obvious lack of playing identity under the Dutchman has been highlighted and cited as a major issue.<\/p>\n
“His players look bored,” suggested Keys.<\/p>\n
“They\u2019ve heard the same tedious post-match routines too often and are fed up taking the blame for ten Hag\u2019s mistakes. There\u2019s nothing new here – these are things I\u2019ve been saying for months. As a side issue – name me a Dutch coach that\u2019s been a success in the PL.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"